PLYMOUTH – Hanover had a little revenge on their minds.
After losing four straight to their Patriot League Fisher Division foe, the Hawks blew the doors off Plymouth South 42-7.
Last season Hanover (4-0) went down 21-0 but marched back to tie things up with 12 seconds left to go on a Ben Scalzi touchdown. But a failed two-point conversion gave the Panthers the win.
In this one, Scalzi didn’t leave anything to chance as the senior captain threw for three touchdowns and no interceptions. Wideout John McDonald pulled down 11 passes for 151 yards, two touchdowns, and added a third score on the ground early in the fourth quarter.
“This is huge because it is our first league game and we are not looking ahead but we knew this was a big one to start league play,” said McDonald. “I think it is just confidence because I know if I get open on my route (Scalzi) is going to put it where it’s supposed to be. I have a lot of trust in him.”
Scalzi found Sebastian Brown on an 11-play opening series to get Hanover on the board at 7:19 of the first quarter on a six-yard crossing route. But Plymouth South was in the game early in the second quarter as the Panthers were inside Hawks territory at the 44-yard line on a Casious Johnson 23-yard scamper.
On the run, Johnson broke the all-time Town of Plymouth schools’ rushing record of 4,400, held since 2014 by fellow Panther Dylan Oxsen, but also – for the second time in as many games against Hanover – Johnson injured his leg on the tackle. Johnson finished the game with 4,423 yards.
“I thought we were going to put something together there down 7-0, so when Casious broke off that long run maybe we could put something together and tie this thing up,” said Plymouth South head coach Darren Fruzzetti. “When Casious went down, it’s next man up, but I told everyone no one is going to cry for Plymouth South. Everyone has had our games circled on their schedule, so we don’t have any real time to feel sorry for ourselves as we now have a must-win next Thursday against North Quincy.”
Hanover put the pressure back on with a 15-play, 92-yard drive that ate up 7:52 of the second quarter and ended with McDonald’s first touchdown connection with Scalzi for 18 yards.
The Panthers (2-2) could not catch a break in the first half as the Hanover defense picked up a loose ball on the kickoff and were set up inside Panthers’ territory at the 29-yard line. Plymouth South could only muster 13 plays from scrimmage in the first two quarters.
Six plays later, the Scalzi-McDonald connection took care of business again as they scored back-to-back touchdowns in less than 40-seconds of time to go up 21-0 at the break.
“At halftime, we just made sure we stayed locked in this time,” said Scalzi. “We didn’t let them come back and let them back in the game.”
More of the same on Plymouth South’s first possession of the second half as dual-threat sophomore quarterback Timmy Durocher ripped off an electric quarterback counter down inside the five-yard line of the Hawks. While Johnson gave it go on a few plays from scrimmage, he was done for the game as a miscue on the next play in the backfield resulted in the second Panthers turnover and a touchback.
Scalzi handed off to McDonald on a three-yard end around to cap off an eight-play drive on the next series for the 35-0 lead early in the fourth quarter to put the game to bed.
Nicholas Kudrikow scored Plymouth South’s lone touchdown on a 68-yard run after running time had started midway through the fourth quarter.
Head coach Brian Kelliher credited his senior captains with their first league win of the season as Plymouth South heads back to the drawing board with their first loss in league play in over two years.
“It all goes to these guys, they go out there and make the plays. When you have a quarterback like Scalzi and Johnny (McDonald) and Vinny (Mancini) with (John) Regan anchoring the line – when you have those guys, they are tough to match up with,” said Kelliher, who is in his first year as head coach of the Hawks program.
